primitive
November 24, 2004, 06:54 AM
November 24 2004 at 12:24PM
A virus has struck Nokia smartphone users. Once downloaded, the virus, called Skulls, replaces all phone desktop icons with images of a skull.
It also renders all phone applications, including SMSs and MMSs, useless.
While Skulls is not the first virus to affect smartphones, it is the first malicious one to do so.
Earlier this year a lab virus called Cabir was unleashed on cellphones in a controlled experiment that was aimed at assessing the impact such an act could have on cellphone users.
Spread by Bluetooth, a short-range radio link used by most high-end cellphones to exchange phonebook entries, images and ringtones, the proof-of-concept worm installed itself before politely asking if it may be allowed to propagate.
Skulls however behaves more like a computer virus - it arrives in the form of a Trojan disguised as a free phone wallpaper.
The program is labelled as a file called 7610.extended.theme.manager.zip.
So far the virus appears to affect only Nokia 7610 smartphones, the firm's first megapixel cameraphone.
Once installed the program replaces all the working applications, such as contacts, calendar, notebook, with non-working versions so the phone becomes almost useless.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=vn20041124102718190C368358
A virus has struck Nokia smartphone users. Once downloaded, the virus, called Skulls, replaces all phone desktop icons with images of a skull.
It also renders all phone applications, including SMSs and MMSs, useless.
While Skulls is not the first virus to affect smartphones, it is the first malicious one to do so.
Earlier this year a lab virus called Cabir was unleashed on cellphones in a controlled experiment that was aimed at assessing the impact such an act could have on cellphone users.
Spread by Bluetooth, a short-range radio link used by most high-end cellphones to exchange phonebook entries, images and ringtones, the proof-of-concept worm installed itself before politely asking if it may be allowed to propagate.
Skulls however behaves more like a computer virus - it arrives in the form of a Trojan disguised as a free phone wallpaper.
The program is labelled as a file called 7610.extended.theme.manager.zip.
So far the virus appears to affect only Nokia 7610 smartphones, the firm's first megapixel cameraphone.
Once installed the program replaces all the working applications, such as contacts, calendar, notebook, with non-working versions so the phone becomes almost useless.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=115&art_id=vn20041124102718190C368358